New In Town
by liz2413
Summary: AU. In 1864, the vampires prevailed over the Founding Families. Today, Mystic Falls exists as the vampire capital of America. Caroline Forbes, new vampire hunter, comes to the home of her ancestors to find those who have been killing descendants of the few founders who managed to escape death in 1864. With the Originals in charge, her quest is only further complicated. Klaroline.


**I was trying to take a nap, and this idea came to me. If this idea has been done before, I sure haven't read a fic about it, so I figured I'd give it a go.**

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**Prologue**

Katerina Petrova promised Klaus Mikaelson three things: a home, a witch, and a doppelgänger.

...

Katerina was smart, and she always had been. More than three centuries of dodging the vindictive hybrid had proved just that. She'd seen cities and fallen in love with them, only to flee at a moment's notice. At first, the running had been exhilarating. Katerina had spent the first many years enjoying vampirism, feeding whenever she pleased on whomever she pleased.

The pleasure quickly faded. Soon an adventurous lifestyle turned into a dangerous and tiring one. The nomadic way of living was far from simple, and Klaus nearly caught her on more than one occasion. Sometimes she wondered if he let her barely escape his clutches on purpose, and her real punishment would be to live in fear for the rest of her immortal days.

Everything changed when she found solace in Mystic Falls, Virginia. The small town was pleasant and sweet, not to mention home to the handsome Salvatore brothers whom had both immediately captured Katerina's affection. She found peace among the forests and the streams, among the stately homes and the fellow vampire residents. For the first time, she truly did not want to leave a place. She feared that Klaus would arrive and steal her happiness away.

Surprisingly, the renowned hybrid was not the first to become a threat to her well being in the Virginian town. Whispers had begun circling within the vampire community. The humans were no longer so naïve to ignore the string of mysterious deaths that came along with a high presence of vampires. They were still oblivious to the monsters that walked alongside them, but a few of the founders were getting uncomfortably close to the truth. Katerina knew that the feared truth would bring her world crashing down if she did not intervene.

She thought long and hard, enlisting the guidance of fellow vampire Pearl in order to solve her predicament. Katerina even went so far as to dismiss the company of the Salvatore siblings every so often. It was one of those nights spent alone when she had the idea. No matter how bold and reckless, it was still an idea, something of which she'd been running very short of.

Intelligence led to the formation of her plan, but stupidity led to the letters.

Katerina knew how foolish she must be to reach out to Klaus and specifically draw him to her quaint corner of happiness. Regardless of that thought, she sent letters far and wide, contacting every vampire she'd ever known in every language she'd ever learned. With all of the people looking to get on good terms with the feared Original, Katerina knew her plea would be heard sooner rather than later.

_Tell Klaus that the doppelgänger wants to settle a debt. He may find me where his family first settled in the New World. If he agrees to my terms, I can promise him these: a home, a witch, and a doppelgänger._

The message found its way to the Original hybrid within the month. It helped that he happened to be moseying around Louisiana with Rebekah and Elijah rather than some foreign land. His first instinct was to find the girl and kill her. After all, hadn't that been his goal for over three hundred years? He knew the location of which she spoke and could find his way there in no time.

Still, the last line of the message intrigued him. How could Katerina promise him another doppelgänger? She had to be well aware that she'd destroyed all chances of that natural occurrence with her transition into a vampire.

Elijah was the one who convinced Niklaus to hear the escaped doppelgänger out. Somewhere, deep in his aged heart, the second eldest Mikaelson still cared for her. The feelings existed against all better judgment and all of Rebekah's criticisms, yet they still stood fast.

After a few dagger threats and an abundance of arguing, Klaus eventually agreed to at least consider Katerina's terms. He had to admit that it fascinated him how the conniving vampire would suddenly reach out to him in such a blunt way. That fact piqued his interest even further regarding what she would offer in order to _settle_ her debt. The travel arrangements were made, and Klaus found himself in the rustic landscape of Virginia.

The town square was charming and very public, making it the perfect place for a meeting. Katerina waited patiently on a bench, protected by a thick coat despite her immunity to the freezing weather. At that time, keeping up appearances was more crucial than ever.

Klaus appeared in a blink, exuding the same lethal confidence that had blindly drawn Katerina in the first time she'd made his acquaintance. His hair was shorter and his clothes were different, but his grin was still devilish and his ocean-toned eyes were still unnerving. Seated on the bench beside her, they must've looked so domestic to the oblivious passerby. She only allowed Klaus a single eloquent greeting before delving into the specifics of her offer.

The terms were simple. Katerina wanted help in securing the small town for her and her vampire friends. To do that, she required the aid of the insurmountable Original and his fellow indestructible siblings. Where the humans prevailed over the vampires in numbers, the vampires could prevail in strength.

At first, Klaus laughed. He could not comprehend how doing Katerina such a large favor would do anything to repay her own debt, which deprived him of his true hybrid nature. She refused to let his mocking shake her in any way, and continued on.

First, she promised him the luxury of a home. It was something she knew that Klaus and his siblings had craved ever since their own parents had turned against them. She explained that Mystic Falls would act as the perfect spot for putting down roots. It was picturesque and out of the way, surrounded by forests that could provide many wandering food sources. If it came down to losing the town to the humans or sharing it with Klaus, she would most definitely choose the latter, providing the hybrid benignly agreed to her terms.

Klaus, knowing his father would follow wherever he and his siblings scurried off to, was reluctant to accept. Why settle in a wonderful place only to have it taken from you in a mere matter of years? He'd never been one to grow too attached to any one corner of the world. Their father had sought ought the skittish siblings even in the most obscure places. This Mystic Falls would certainly be no exception.

Still, Katerina did not fret. Klaus had endured the same punishment he'd bestowed upon her, constantly moving in fear of being detected by a father he could not truly call his own. She had procured a witch for exactly this reason. Tales of the infamous vampire who hunted his own kind had circulated around the world for many a moon. But Katerina was smart, and she had prepared.

Emily Bennett was a powerful witch. Her ancestry derived from the ancient sorceress Qetsiyah, known for having imprisoned the first immortal being deep beneath earth and stone. With just a fraction of that same power running through her veins, Emily could easily desiccate the father of the Original vampires upon his arrival into town.

This fact put Klaus at ease when it came to a potentially permanent residence, but he was still skeptical towards a part of Katerina's grand offer. He'd long ago accepted that his quest to break his curse was forever futile after the last doppelgänger resorted to vampirism. That deed was what had driven his hatred of the Petrova girl for the past centuries.

Even at these hints of skepticism, Katerina did not fret. She'd carried a secret with her for as long as she'd been running from Klaus. The existence of her only child, a daughter, had been kept hidden from the very night the baby was born. This child could fully renew Klaus's hope that one day his curse may be broken.

To further convince him, Katerina offered up articles of proof. It had taken multiple years of searching, in which she had left hospitals and orphanages burning in her wake, but Katerina had somehow managed to obtain the evidence she needed. A jumble of birth certificates and family trees all linked the Gilberts as direct descendants of the Petrova line. Klaus was further intrigued to hear that these Gilberts resided directly in the quaint town of Mystic Falls.

Preserve the Gilbert line, she told him, and you will have your doppelgänger.

That final addition made the offer too great to deny. A permanent home would bring indescribable joy to his siblings. A witch of Emily Bennett's caliber could easily subdue his father, bringing that annoyance to an end. The allure of yet another doppelgänger was impossible to resist, especially if it returned hope to Klaus's quest to achieve full hybrid status. So, with no more than a few moments thought, the deal was accepted.

When the time came, the humans fell. Vampires and Originals tore through the blackened night, slaughtering and feasting on as many as they could. Pure spite caused them to target the founding families first, though it was ensured that all Gilberts were spared from the bloodshed. The Forbes and Lockwood families were the only other founders who managed to escape through a secret labyrinth of tunnels beneath the Lockwood Estate. Amidst the chaos, Katerina managed to also spare the Salvatore siblings, condemning them to lives as vampires.

Mystic Falls quickly evolved into a safe haven for vampires. Those within the city limits knew of all the residents' secrets, but outsiders continued to be baffled by the mystery surrounding the charming Virginian town. The Original vampires built a grand house to call their own. Katerina, pleased at the permanence of her new home, began teaching Stefan and Damon how to control their newfound bloodlust.

Mikael came to their haven nearly one year after the town's reclaiming. Klaus watched with a self-satisfied smile as Katerina's witch made true on her promise to immobilize his father. The siblings delighted over his desiccated body, sending him to be sealed off far away in a crypt.

Overall, Klaus considered himself surprisingly pleased with the outplaying of Katerina's plan. He recognized her cunning, but had never expected so much success to come out of their little arrangement. She had played her part, and now he would have to play his by ensuring the safety of the Gilbert family line. Nothing would be allowed to come between him and his future doppelgänger, that much he was sure of.

From then on, Mystic Falls existed in its pleasant mysteriousness. It was a vampire's paradise, as one might say. Everything went on as it was supposed to.

That is, until that particularly cold October morning, when the unfamiliar blonde girl rolled into town.

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**I really have no idea where Elena's Petrova blood came from, so I'm just going with whatever makes sense with my story. This is only the prologue, so Caroline will be introduced in the next chapter!**

**I hope you guys find this idea a little compelling (ha), and will want to read more of this story!**

**Feel free to leave your thoughts in a review :)**


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